"The game is called Guessing the True Heart."
"Right now, you each have one gold coin and six silver coins. You don't need to return them after the game ends; feel free to feed them to your sorcery spirits."
"The rules are as follows: First is the answering phase. Each person will take turns asking a yes-or-no question, and then everyone will use their gold coin to give an honest answer. The coin's inscription side represents 'yes,' and the flower side represents 'no.'"
"Next is the guessing phase. Everyone must guess how many people answered 'yes' and wager the corresponding number of silver coins. Players who guess correctly earn one point, and the person with the highest score at the end wins."
"However, whether before or after the game, no one is allowed to pry for information from others, nor may you reveal what you answered."
"Simple enough, right?" Annan smiled. "Whoever scores higher than me, I'll grant their wish. Whether it's collecting corpses in the sewers or topping up funds in a game, anything goes."
Hearing this, the game indeed sounded without any obvious catches, but Harvey quickly spotted a loophole: "How can you ensure everyone will answer truthfully during the answering phase?"
"Simple," Annan said. "Banjie, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Bojin, and Yaxiu, you will answer truthfully in the game that follows. Your turn, Yaxiu."
Yaxiu looked down at the little girl. "Lisi, you have to answer honestly in the game later. If you lie, Uncle Harvey will handcraft every single one of your future plushies."
Little Lisi grew pale with fright. "I definitely won't lie!"
Harvey, however, gave Yaxiu a strange look. "How did you know I make dolls?"
"After all, making dolls sounds like a pervert's hobby through and through..."
"Wait," Igola narrowed his eyes. "Under the constraint of the Contract, we naturally won't intentionally lie. But what about you, Miss?"
"Aren't there terms in the Contract binding me as well? As long as I utter the binding incantation, whatever I say afterward becomes a covenant that binds me. If I breach it, our Contract will terminate. And the binding incantation is..."
"On the name of Doran," Annan lifted her chin, "I will uphold the virtue of honesty in the game that follows."
"Wait, that's not right!" Yaxiu suddenly had a flash of wit. "Aren't there sorcery spirits or miracles that can detect the coin's state? Or even directly read the thoughts in people's minds! Wouldn't cheating like that go completely unnoticed?"
Annan was very accommodating. "I swear I will not use any sorcerer powers during the game."
Everyone then turned their eyes to the Swindler who ranked second on the Two Wings Mind List—a man whose mouth tasted of lies even right after brushing his teeth. Igola brought his wrists together in a mock gesture of asking to be handcuffed, then shrugged. "It seems my promise wouldn't earn your trust anyway. But really, you show me far too little respect."
Yaxiu said, "It's precisely because we respect you that we have to restrict your means of cheating."
"That is the greatest disrespect of all—that you actually think I'd need to cheat to beat you in a game like this." Igola tilted his head up, the corners of his mouth curling into a mocking arc. "Rules are merely the hem of Lady Victory's skirt, lifted for me."
"Why would she lift her skirt? Auntie Bojin, do you want to see Lady Victory's panties?" Little Lisi asked, somewhat puzzled.
"You don't understand, Lisi," Yaxiu said. "They say Veelas and men with Veela blood all like to lick—"
Before Annan could even speak, Igola vaulted across the table and clamped his hand over Yaxiu's throat, keeping this zero-star trash adult from spouting filth in front of a child.
"Whaddya doin'—"
Annan turned to Lisi with complete seriousness: "If you'd like to replace this father of yours, I'd be more than happy to help."
"No way!" Lisi went over and pulled Igola away. "Auntie Bojin, stop bullying Daddy!"
"Honestly, I'm the most normal adult among us! Igola, did you think I was going to say something perverted? I'm not Harvey!" Yaxiu pried Igola's hands off with an effort. "I was just going to say that people of Veela descent all like to lick legs, that's all!"
"That's already plenty perverted, all right?!"
After a round of rowdy commotion, not only Igola, but everyone else was also forbidden from using sorcerer abilities. The six of them sat on the sofas around the coffee table. Banjie thoughtfully brought over drinks and a platter of snacks and fruit, giving the room quite the party atmosphere.
"Do I have to play too?" the young butler asked.
"Of course. You're a member of the agency too. This is the Funeral Agency's first team-building event after expanding our ranks. If you beat me, I can grant a request of yours as well."
"You jest, Miss."
"Speaking of which, I feel like this is a bit unfair," Annan said suddenly. "If you win, I reward you. But if I win, shouldn't you reward me as well?"
"We already belong to you body and soul, what do we have to reward you with?" Igola sneered. "Whatever you want, all you need is a single command. Could we even refuse your orders?"
Harvey reminded them, "Our Contract allows us to refuse sexual acts, so we actually can refuse."
"Oh, come on, don't be so cynical. Maybe the boss just wants a token of our appreciation," Yaxiu said. "And we really do have gifts we could give. For example, Lisi, you're a little girl, you can weave a flower crown; Harvey, you're a necromancer, you can remove one of your ribs and fashion it into an amulet; Igola, you're a mind sorcerer, you can dig out your own heart..."
Harvey looked thoroughly puzzled. "How did you know I once removed one of my ribs to make a gift? Though it wasn't fashioned into an amulet..."
Igola had wanted to retort sharply, but Harvey's words choked him right up—Yaxiu's wild imagination had actually failed to keep pace with Harvey's formidable execution.
"It doesn't need to be so extreme," Annan chuckled. "How about this: if I win, I'll still grant your wishes, but you'll have to do something for me. Something that might have nothing to do with work, but something I want to take you along to do."
"What kind of thing?"
"We'll talk after the game." Annan let the Scarlet-Gold Drake-Lizard scurry off and said, "I know you don't trust me. That's only natural—who would trust a stunning beauty who enslaved them through cunning schemes?"
Igola wore a look of disdain, while Yaxiu and Harvey had no reaction—their looks weren't handsome enough to contest that statement.
"But I truly have no intention of enslaving you. In my eyes, you are all equal partners with me. The proceeds from the Weaving Ceremony will be shared among us; we are colleagues fighting side by side. The Funeral Agency will merely serve as a platform for you to reach higher ground, and these 101 days will also become a cherished experience in your lives."
"Let this game serve as proof of my sincerity."
Annan said, "Since I proposed the game, I'll start with the first question."
"Question: Do you want to obtain a divine wish?"
Everyone's hearts jolted.
"Conceal your gold coin in your hand, then place it beneath this handkerchief." Annan slipped her hand under the handkerchief on the coffee table and set down the gold coin from her palm. "Your turn."
They exchanged glances, but had no choice—bound by the Contract, they had to answer honestly and could not fake their responses.
"Next is the guessing phase," Annan said. "I believe everyone answered 'yes,' so I wager six silver coins."
Everyone, including the loyal butler Banjie, likewise wagered six silver coins. When the handkerchief was lifted, there indeed lay six gold coins with the inscription side facing up, meaning everyone's answer had been 'yes.'
"Banjie, what wish would you make if you received a divine wish?" Annan asked curiously.
"I haven't thought about it yet." Banjie shrugged. "'Please fulfill the young mistress's wish,' probably?"
"I don't believe that. You definitely have wishes of your own." Annan looked toward the others. "And that's only natural. To be human is to desire. I have desires, Banjie has desires, and naturally, so do you all. As long as you draw breath, you will surely crave a divine boon capable of granting any wish."
"Selfish though I may be, I'm not so selfish as to imagine everyone else is selfless."
Chapter 227